A pending U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 664,774, filed Mar. 8, 1976, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,039,394, and of common ownership, discloses a slatted top closure for a quench car. It had been common practice in coke making to transport incandescent coke from a coke oven to a quench tower in an open top quench car. This practice is subject to criticism because between the pushed oven and the quench tower, the combustion of coke in the car causes considerable pollution of the air. The slatted top quench car maintains the car in a covered state except when access to the car is required as when coke enters and when coke is quenched. The slatted top quench car has a plurality of normally closed slats transversing the top of the quench car. These slats are adapted to be opened to admit coke into the car and to admit quenching water into the car for quenching the coke.
Each slat is rotatably mounted along one edge to the car and has a cam follower attached at one end by a lever arm. A counterweight is mounted to the other end of the slat to maintain the slats in a normally closed position.
At the coke guide positioned in front of the coke oven, the slats are tripped open preferably by a tripper beam which comprises a cam track mounted on or near the coke guide. The tripper beam cooperates with the cam followers to open the slats immediately in front of the guide as the car moves past the oven during a coke push. The slats are tripped open to permit the coke to enter the car, then closed again just past the mouth of the oven where the cam followers disengage the tripper beam. A continuous cover is thus provided for the quench car during its travel to the quench tower. At the quench tower another tripper beam opens all the slats to permit effective quenching of the coke in the car.
Prior to the present invention, the tripper beam was rigidly mounted on or near the coke guide. The quench car could not pass the tripper beam without engaging the cam followers with the beam and thereby opening the slats. If the coke is pushed into the car as the car travels in one direction and the car must then proceed in the opposite direction to reach the quench tower, the cam followers would necessarily engage the tripper beam again and the slats would be opened. Certain drawbacks are inherent in the use of the rigidly mounted tripper beam. First, the rate of travel of the car past the tripper beam must be less than normal operating speed. This slower rate wastes valuable operating time and should be avoided. Second, if the rate of travel is too great, then damage to the tripper beam, the quench car, the coke guide, or all of them will result. Third, to unnecessarily open the slats when the car is full of incandescent coke would mean to diminish the pollution control effect of the car.